What are we doing about air pollution?

The Government and devolved administrations are committed to meeting people's right to clean air. It is essential for a good quality of life. People have a right to expect that the air they breathe will not harm them. We have come a long way since the smogs of the 1950s. We have achieved cleaner air through regulating industry and progressively tightening emissions standards for vehicles. Air quality in the UK is now generally very good. But there are still sometimes unacceptably high levels of pollution that can harm human health and the environment.

The Air Quality Strategy for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland tackles this problem. This should be read in conjunction with The Air Quality (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2002.

The aim of the Strategy is to map out, as far as possible, the future of ambient air quality policy in the UK to 2005 and beyond. The Strategy sets out health-based standards for eight main air pollutants and objectives for their achievement throughout the UK by 2005. It identifies the action that needs to be taken at international, national and local level, and provides a framework which allows relevant parties, such as industry, business and local government to identify the contributions they can make to ensuring that its objectives are met. Visit the Defra website for more detailed information on the Air Quality Strategy.

The Strategy sets objectives for eight main air pollutants to protect health. If a local authority finds any places where the objectives are not likely to be achieved, it must declare an Air Quality Management Area there. This area could be just one or two streets, or it could be much bigger. Then the local authority will put together a plan to improve the air quality - a Local Air Quality Action Plan. To find out about Air Quality Management in your area click here.

UK Air Quality Indicators for Sustainable Development

Part of the Government's plans to ensure a better quality of life are Indicators of Sustainable Devolopment. The indicators for Air Quality and Health provide two measures of how air quality has changed over the period 1990 - 2009.

Firstly, trends in annual levels of ozone (O₃) and particulate matter (PM₁₀). These are the two types of air pollution believed to have the most significant impacts on public health through long-term exposure.

• Urban background particulate levels were on average 19 micrograms per cubic metre (µg m^-3) in 2009, the same as in 2008. These levels have fluctuated, but there has been an overall decreasing trend since 1993, the first year for which data were available.
• Roadside particulate levels averaged 22 µg m^-3 in 2009, compared to 26 µg m^-3 in 2008. Similar to urban background levels, there has been a general downward trend since the series began in 1997.
• Urban background ozone levels averaged 55 µg m^-3 in 2009 compared to 59 µg m^-3 in 2008 and 44 µg m^-3 in 1992. These levels showed an increasing trend since 1992, the first year for which data were available, although this has shown signs of levelling out in recent years.
• Rural ozone levels averaged 68 µg m^-3 in 2009 compared to 71 µg m^-3 in 2008 and 59 µg m^-3 since the first available data in 1987. There is no clear long term trend.
• Both particulate and ozone concentrations are strongly influenced by weather, which will contribute to the fluctuations seen across the time series.

Secondly, trends in the average number of days per site on which pollution levels were above National Air Quality Standards. The Standards represent defined levels which avoid significant risks to health. As levels increase above the Standard, the likelihood of effects on health increases. For example, levels of ozone in the 'high' band may cause cough and discomfort on deep breathing during excercise in some people.

The graph below shows how the indicator figure has changed over the period 1990 - 2009. The number of days when air pollution was assessed as being moderate or higher at urban sites has reduced significantly since 1993 (with the exception of peaks in 2003 and 2006). There were 10 days on average per site in 2009, compared with 26 in 2008, 23 days in 2007, and 59 days in 1993. This series has shown a high degree of year-on-year variability. The number of days affected in rural areas has varied significantly over time. There were 32 days on average per site, compared with 45 days in 2008, and 21 days in 1987. These fluctuations are largely due to the effects of variability in weather from year to year. However, the govenment is also working at international level to reduce emissions of the pollutants which lead to ozone formation.

The European Air Quality Framework Directive and Daughter Directives

Directive 96/62/EC sets a framework for how the UK must monitor and report ambient levels of air pollutants. The UK has been divided into zones and agglomerations within which the pollutants will be monitored. A definition of zones and agglomerations is provided on the DEFRA Web Site and in the What is the Air Pollution Like Near Me? section of this web site.
Directive 99/30/EC (the first Air Quality Daughter Directive) sets ambient air limit values for nitrogen dioxide and oxides of nitrogen, sulphur dioxide, lead and particulate matter.
Directive 2000/69/EC (the second Air Quality Daughter Directive) sets ambient air limit values for benzene and carbon monoxide.
Directive 2002/3/EC (the third Air Quality Daughter Directive) sets ambient air limit values for ozone.
More information on these directives and other European policies can be found at the European Commission and European Environment Agency web pages via the links below.

EU Air Quality Framework Directive	European Environment Agency

The obligations of the Directives have been made into UK and Devolved Administrations laws, coming into force on 19 July 2001. the legal texts can be found at:
England
www.legislation.hmso.gov.uk/si/si2001/20012315.htm
Scotland
www.scotland-legislation.hmso.gov.uk/legislation/scotland/ssi2001/20010224.htm
Wales
www.wales.gov.uk/keypublegislationcirculars/index.htm

Other UK Government Initiatives on Air Quality

These currently include:

Cleaner vehicles to promote the reduction of vehicle emissions.

Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC). The main aim of IPPC is to achieve a high level of protection of the environment taken as a whole by, in particular, preventing or, where that is not practicable, reducing emissions into the air, water and land. To find out more visit the Environment Agency web site. To find out about air quality developments in the UK dministrations click on the links at the end of this page.

Air Pollution Prevention and Control. This system regulates over 16,000 industrial and other premises to minimise air emissions. Full details can be found on www.defra.gov.uk/environment/quality/pollution/ppc/background/index.htm

The two pollution prevention and control regimes implement a number of directives, including the Large Combustion Plants Directive to limit pollutants into the air from major power sources; the Solvent Emissions Directive to control emissions of volatile organic compounds which are a factor in ozone pollution; and the Petrol Vapour Recovery Directive to address emissions from petrol stations and storage terminals.

The Clean Air Act to control domestic and industrial smoke emissions.